The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-12-31
THE KANKAKEE ASYLUM.
How The Insane are Cared Tor.

anu ihc ~ many Snaps az oS" "'''''e
about without rudders! II is sorrowful
and fearful spectacle, sad because Of our
pity for their helplesness and awful because
it suggests the extreme delica,eness OF the
mysterious machinery of the human brain
Able writers have sought to prove that no
person is perfectly sane; and as no mental
organism is perfect, who can refute the
arguments So fine mind as that Of the
once Chief Justice Lawrence of this state,
declared that " No one could be perfectly
sure of his mental poise" How, then, can
some of us,-any Of us,-who look upon
those insane persone, some only demented,
say in particular faculty of the mind,
and be certain that we ought not to be in
the insane asylum and the others be free
Because of trifling defect In single cog,
the whole machine may become deranged
and break down, In some cases. In others
the machine goes on till worn out by old
age, in spite of the defective cog!
The buildings at Kankakee for the In
sane are admirably adapted to the wants OF
those 1920 patients. Every thing under
DR.. Dewey's perfect systemization, Is cor
rect. There are seventeen large buildings,
some of which are three and four stories
high, all have ample halls, and each room
of the many hundred looks out Of window
20 the open outside view, not obstructed by
the rear of other buildings but the country
around from one side and from the other,
a large space, so that sun light and fresh
air can always enter every room each day,
the sun when II shines and the air always
Besides this excellent artificial ventilation
is provided by large flue foot or more
from the floor of each bed room. The
almost miles of halls and acres of floors are
kept scrupulously neat and clean. The
beds are wonderfully neat and the cooking
comprises an abundance Of wholesome food.
The cooks-fifty per cent are patients.
Their work is done by steam In kitchen
wherein everything has Its place and moth
ing crowded. vast boilers prepare the coffee,
enormous kettles boil tho meats and large
bakery bakes the bread. A complete fire
apparatus protects the fine and costly
building from the fiery element. The
"fire laddies" have two hose carts and a
hook and ladder truck.
The water is forced up from the kanka-
kee river near by, by means of the engines to
a stand pipe reservoir and they can flood
the highest building on three minutes no
tiCe.
CLEAN CLOTHING, ETC,
Is always the rule. No dirt or filth of
any kini is seen momeRt any where.
The inmates are always kept perfectly
clean. The institution has an enormous
laundry, and water costs them six cents for
twenty thousand gallons
The patients have all the exercise their
respective conditions and the temperature
of the air ont side will permit. They like
walks, and run and skip about like lambs,
if they feel like it. They have all the
medical attendance required. They are
never scolded or crossed and above all never
punished; when evident danger is about to
occur to themselves, as they are on the
point of assaulting others, they are quickly
restrained, Their fits o! passion very rarely
last more than minute, when they forget
the scene and the entire cause of their late
excitement vanishes completely from their
feeble memories.
THEIR AMUSEMENTS
A small building capable of seating
three or four hundred gives them an OCCas.
ional theater, or imitation of one. They
also dance once week and some of them
enjoy it vastly
STEAM VS.. FURNACES.
Every one will remember the horrible !
death of seventeen poor, sick and helpless
insane persons IN January 1885. 1t was
caused by the setting fire TO one of the
wards or out buildings by Rutan furnace,
the kind one Ottawa news paper has been
bowling for ever since the present La Sale
court house was built,-the kind
that burnt school house at Elgin not long
ago, and damaged the County house at
1t was by a furnace that the
old 81 ward school building had been twice
set on fire by within couple or three years
and did a like dangerous service at Dr.
Dyer's house!
The steam system used at the Kankakee
Asylum is precisely like that of the La
Sale county court house, but on larger
scale. Seventeen of the larger buildings
of this institution are heated by steam
IN pipes to where 1t is wanted
Seven are heated by furnaces but which
will be replaced by steam as soon as pos
sible
The buildings are lighted by 800 incan.
descent electric burners, or, glow worm
Internally and the space externally by
fourteen Brush lights. The power Is fur
nished by two large dynamos.
OUR PATIENTS.
La Sale county Asylum is represented by
seventy.fve inmates. OF course we did not
intrude upon them, for here they are were
merppd into the vast LOT of unfOrtuDates